A Series of Tulips
by faultylilac
Summary: A set of drabbles in which I shipped Theresa Gray and Julian Blackthorn before I read CP2. This ship has officially sunk, unfortunately, but enjoy the drabbles!
1. Crumbling

"How dare you act like I don't know anything about love?" Tessa hissed, her hand placed on her heart. Her eyes were narrowed, staring down deep into Julian's. She was breathing fast, and she could hear her pulse in her ears. She knew she must have looked terrifying; even after more than two centuries, she still didn't have complete reign over her powers. But Julian didn't waver. He met her gaze steadily. Yet, the more she spoke, the softer his face became, like a stone being eroded away by running water. "I have had my fair share of heartbreak and loss," she shouted at him, and a pair of dark blue eyes flashed in her mind. She pushed the image away painfully, only for it to be replaced by a pale face, highlighted in silver. Tessa choked. "Don't think that even though I am immortal-" she spat the word as though it were poison "-that I have lost all sense of emotion. That I've forgotten what it's like to feel. Don't you dare, Julian. I haven't forgotten. I remember love and hurt and happiness and pain perfectly."

At first, Julian said nothing. And then he reached out and firmly wrapped his hands around Tessa's shoulders. She jerked away from him, but he had a Shadowhunter's strength, and her walls were already falling, taking away her own strength. He held her closely to him as tears streamed down Tessa's cheeks, dampening his cotton button-down, and then his lips were on hers, and she was kissing him so fiercely and so passionately she thought she would burst from the warmth spreading through her limbs. The hurt ebbed away as her walls crumbled, and she sagged into Julian's embrace. "I'm sorry," he murmured, and Tessa realized that, as images of Will and Jem flickered across her closed eyelids, she was, too.


	2. Spearmint

She suspected that Julian wasn't really asleep, but only faking. She knew he was awake; maybe he was just trying to fall back into that black void of numb slumber. Tessa, sitting at the edge of the bed, leaned forward until her lips brushed lightly against his brown hair, thin and soft and sticking up in every direction. She pulled away, laughing inwardly. She found she couldn't look away; just watching Julian was intriguing. His face was drawn with an innocence and purity that she hadn't seen since she had first set her sights on Cecily.

A storm of unwelcome, unbidden memories caused her stomach to hurt and her head to pound. Tessa moved to stand, meaning to leave and visit the Los Angeles Institute, headed by Julian's widowed father, when Julian suddenly turned over onto his back, eyes wide open, if not only slightly fuzzy with drowsiness. Tessa smiled down at him and stroked her fingers from his temple to his chin. "Good morning," she whispered, and he sat up to wrap his arms around her. She let him envelop her, folding her legs beneath her as she snuggled her face into the crook between his neck and collarbone. Tessa sighed, breathing in the scent of Julian; spearmint, sweat, dirt. "Good morning," he said, and kissed her forehead.


	3. The Salty Scent of the Sea

The air was cold, but he didn't care. Julian should've taken that second plane - he would've arrived in London much sooner, maybe even caught up with her - but a part of him was sure that this is exactly what Tessa would have done. She'd grown up in the 19th century, where there were no planes - and she had first arrived in England on a ship. What he sailed on now was completely different from the ships of her childhood, but it still had the same effect; the rush over the water, the break across the waves, the strong, salty scent of the sea. Julian couldn't understand why Tessa had up and left to the London Institute so suddenly and so quietly. He wanted to reach her as soon and as quickly as possible, but he also wanted to understand her, and he figured one of the best ways he was to do that would be to travel as she did, even if that meant he was a couple hours behind her. There was a chance he'd even lose her trail. But he'd find Tessa. He always would.


	4. A Musical Present

"What do you think?" Emma looked at him carefully. Julian's eyes were wide and glistening, his fingers twitched on the guitar he'd had since he was twelve-years-old, and he had a small little smile that lit up his face like she had never seen it before. Not with her, not with his family, not even when he found his little sister after weeks of her disappearance. "Will she like it?" Emma couldn't really understand what it was about this warlock that wasn't really a warlock that grabbed his attention. In all honesty, maybe she was a little jealous. She wasn't used to fighting for her best friend's attention. "Emma, are you even listening to me?"

She looked at Julian. Really looked at him. He was happy with Tessa. Who was she to be jealous of that? Emma grinned at him. "She'll love it."


	5. When the Ocean Called

Immortal. The word meant nothing to her anymore. She'd repeated it to herself over and over again as these years had passed, and its definition slowly drifted away. Tessa whispered the word aloud to herself, and immediately she felt herself darken with both a loathing and an emptiness. It meant nothing to her now, yet that was what she was. Immortal.

The cold ocean water lapped at her shoulders. The horizon was cloudy, the air muggy, the sun hidden. Periodically, Tessa could hear the faint caw of a pelican. She wasn't sure if this creature had any significance to her presence there that day; but every time she came close to her decision, it called to her, and Tessa couldn't help but hesitate. Why did she hesitate, though? Immortality was a curse; she was left alone so many times throughout the millennium, all of her friends dying in a war or dying because they didn't share the same burden. Tessa was lonely. She didn't want to be lonely anymore.

She closed her eyes, taking a step farther, the water rising to her neck. She felt the current, delicately pulling her along. As her nose dipped below the surface, she heard her name float over the waves. The voice was familiar, and it squeezed her chest. She tried to suck in air, astonished by the effect hearing her name on his tongue had on her. Her body jerked as she inhaled a mouthful of water, and her knees buckled, and then she was completely submerged underwater. Tessa's eyes closed, and she thought that this was right. This is how things ought to end - by her own hand, her own doing. Her lips opened slightly and she relaxed her body, ready to be taken captive by the current and free of this world-

Strong, lean arms wrapped around her abdomen. Suddenly she was pulled to the surface, and she gasped as air filled her lungs. Tessa coughed, expelling the seawater, as she was dragged back to the shore. Julian dumped her onto the sand, her body weak, her mind whirling. Words surrounded her, angry and afraid and scolding. She blinked, and then Julian's beautiful blue eyes, usually vivid and soft like the sky before a sunrise but now hard and cold like a storm, bore into hers. Tessa let out a cry - of sadness, or relief, or grief, she didn't know. But then he was holding her, much more tenderly, and he murmured sweet nothings into her ear, and she sobbed into his shoulder. Tessa exhaled shakily. "I'm sorry," she said, and she closed her eyes against the setting sun.


End file.
